Barbara Walters' Daughter Jackie Was 'There for Her in the End' despite Mom Being 'So Busy with a Career'

• Barbara Walters hid the fact she adopted a daughter.

• Walters' adopted daughter Jacqueline Dena Guber ran away from home. She struggled with her mom's fame and continued absence.

• Although Walters spent most of Guber's life working, her daughter still preferred to spend her mom's last days together.

The renowned news anchor Barbara Walters passed away on December 30, 2022, at the age of 93. The famous television personality had been battling dementia in her last years and was rarely seen leaving her New York City apartment. She had a long and influential career and finally retired in 2015.

The public knew Walters for her intimate interviews, while her co-workers and family knew her for her incredible work ethic. She never missed a day of work and devoted herself entirely to her job. Walters had trouble maintaining longtime relationships because she preferred to spend her time and energy on her career.

The newswoman credited her sister, Jacqueline Walters, with teaching her empathy and understanding, as well as influencing her workaholic tendencies. Her sister was mentally disabled, and looking after her made Walters feel like she had tremendous responsibility from an early age. This feeling persisted into adulthood.

The toll of having absent parents became stressful, and Walters' busy public life made Danforth feel neglected and left out.

Luckily, Walters' hard work paid off. She was the first female co-anchor on the evening news, and her excellent interview skills ensured she made $1 million a year. But despite the success, one relationship Walters always regretted neglecting was her beloved adopted daughter, Jacqueline Dena Guber, also known as Jacqueline Danforth.

Why Did Walters First Hide Her Adopted Daughter?

Walters married her second husband, Lee Guber, in 1963. The two were together for more than a decade, and throughout their marriage, they desperately wanted a baby. However, Walters struggled to fall pregnant, and when she eventually did, she tragically suffered a miscarriage. After two more miscarriages, they decided to turn to adoption.

She kept her addiction hidden, and Walters had no idea what her daughter was going through.

Walters and her husband adopted Danforth in 1968, only eight years before they eventually divorced. At the time, they kept the fact that their new daughter was adopted a secret. Walters revealed that they didn't want her biological mother to know they had adopted her, which prompted the secrecy.

But Danforth's childhood held numerous challenges. After her parents divorced, she was raised by her mother, and Walters has admitted that she should have spent more time with her daughter. Danforth turned to drugs during her teenage years to help her cope with her mother's fame. She commented that she never "fit into" her mom's life.

While Danforth's mother was a highly successful news anchor, her dad made a living with several Broadway productions and venues. Guber started out producing Broadway plays and went on to buy a few properties, turning them into sites where he hosted entertainers.

He made a significant sum of money by inviting some of the most famous names in entertainment to perform in his venues. He hosted people like Sammy Davis Jr., Jack Benny, and Stevie Wonder. With two well-known public figures as parents, Danforth had little in the way of an attentive parent.

The toll of having absent parents became stressful, and Walters' busy public life made Danforth feel neglected and left out. Eventually, she turned to substance abuse to cope with her situation, and she became addicted as a young teenager.

How Danforth Struggled to Deal With Her Mom's Fame and Her Own Demons

With a worsening dependency on substances, Danforth's life soon went down a rather dark path. She kept her addiction hidden, and Walters had no idea what her daughter was going through. Being the adopted daughter of a famous woman took its toll, and she didn't fit in at her school either. So, she decided to run away. She commented:

"And the drugs numbed all the other feelings. But it didn't take away the issues that I had. They got bigger and bigger. I was more and more isolated from my mom's world. And I thought running would solve all my problems."

In the summer of '84, Danforth took off on her own. She left home and decided to put as much distance between her and the confusing world of her newswoman mother as possible. And for a young teenager, she got impressively far, hitchhiking a total of 800 miles across the Southwest.

In the last few years of Walters' life, she and Danforth had a highly endearing relationship.

After a month, the guy Danforth was hitchhiking with at the time looked for someone to contact while she was asleep. He found Walters' number in her wallet and told her where her daughter was. Finally, Walters had the chance to get her daughter back. But instead of bringing her home, she sent her to a rehab program that saved her life.

By Mom's Side till the End: Despite Walters' Absence, Danforth Was by Her Side during Her Last Moments

After Danforth arrived at the rehab program, she realized what a dangerous situation her mom had just saved her from. From there on out, Danforth made an effort to stay away from addictive substances, while Walters saw the extent of her daughter's unhappiness at home.

The news anchor realized she had been spending more time at work than with her daughter. When Walters retired, the famous newswoman admitted she wished she had spent more time with her daughter when Danforth was younger.

Luckily, Walters managed to turn her relationship with her daughter around in time, and they started bonding after Danforth was discharged from the rehab program. Before Walters retired in 2015, she had already built a healthy relationship with her daughter. After she stopped working, she gushed:

"Oh, I adore my daughter. To know that you're going to have this kind of love that I feel for her … I'm laughing because [she] said to me recently, 'Mom, when you have Alzheimer's, you can come down and live next to me.' I take that as a very loving compliment."

In the last few years of Walters' life, she and Danforth had a highly endearing relationship. The two adored each other, and the troubles of the past were water under the bridge. Danforth eventually married Mark Danforth and started a facility for at-risk teenage girls. A family friend said Danforth was "there for her in the end."

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